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It's a deal for GM, Chrysler

Bracing for &quot;tragic&quot; times, the Canadian Auto Workers reached early tentative agreements yesterday with General Motors and Chrysler, which they hope to ratify in speedy fashion over the long weekend.

Bracing for "tragic" times, the Canadian Auto Workers reached early tentative agreements yesterday with General Motors and Chrysler, which they hope to ratify in speedy fashion over the long weekend.

"We see more dark clouds on the horizon (so) we wanted to move quickly. It was a real motivator for us," CAW president Buzz Hargrove told reporters in Toronto.

"The best way was to get in, get out," he said, noting he and negotiating teams were exhausted after round-the-clock, back-to-back bargaining with both automakers.

The twin agreements, reached four months before September's deadline, are identical in many respects to the Ford deal hammered out nearly two weeks ago. All three include a three-year wage freeze with some cost-of-living increases in the second and third years, along with a cut in vacation pay. New workers will wait longer for full pay.

Still reeling from this week's announcement, Windsor's transmission plant will close in 2010, Oshawa's GM workers have a few things to look forward to in the new deal.

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Hargrove said GM has committed to building a new car at its flexible manufacturing plant in Oshawa. Sources said GM will soon announce the high-volume model for the new plant, but production won't start until late 2011 or early 2012.

GM will also build the Chevrolet Impala in Oshawa until 2012. Despite plans to phase it out in 2010, sales have stayed strong.

The company has also committed to produce a six-speed transmission at its St. Catharines' engine plant, the union said, and agreed to produce its next-generation V8 engine in St. Catharines and Oshawa.

Hargrove said about 900 jobs will be saved, extending the life of the second shift at Oshawa's truck plant, which will work two weeks on, two weeks off. The plant makes GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups. Production of hybrid versions will begin later this year.

Chrysler has extended the life of Etobicoke's casting plant, which employs 350, until June, 2011, as it works to find a buyer, he said. Chrysler and the CAW shook hands on the tentative deal, agreeing tough times call for tough decisions.

"It's pretty obvious that there are a lot of challenges ahead of us and we're going to have to continue to evolve to address those changes," said Al Iacobelli, vice-president of employee relations at Chrysler.

Hargrove said the tentative GM deal is also aimed at protecting workers affected by plant shutdowns. The severance agreement for more than 1,300 GM workers hurt by the upcoming closure of the Windsor plant is "groundbreaking," he said, including buyouts worth up to $125,000 and pro-rated early retirement packages.

Workers will get a $2,200 "productivity and quality" bonus immediately and a $3,500 lump sum early next year as compensation for the loss of the vacation pay.

Big Three workers are among the highest-paid industrial workers in Canada. Production technicians earn $33.90 an hour, including COLA, while tradespeople receive $34.30. Despite the wage freeze, the union estimates the COLA will generate an extra $1 an hour for workers by the end of the contract.

"The market is changing so radically right now. The changes reflect the state of the company and the state of the industry," said Hargrove, whose term as the CAW's legendary president is set to expire at a time when the Big Three are struggling from tough competition and lower demand.

"Normally we wouldn't have accepted this package. Normally we would have gone to a strike deadline, but when you look at the closure of the Windsor transmission plant (announced this week), and the state of the industry ... this is a win-win," he explained at a news conference at the Sheraton Centre Hotel."We could see nothing but a downside to delaying our bargaining."

GM workers vote on the proposal today and Chrysler workers will vote tomorrow. Hargrove wouldn't speculate on the outcome but noted the master and local bargaining committees were unanimous in endorsing both the GM and Chrysler agreements. The Ford agreement was approved by a 67 per cent majority of its workers.

GM employs 12,955 CAW members in Canada, including 1,914 currently laid-off at four main sites across southern Ontario. The agreement covers 9,600 Chrysler employees.

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